Josie has been telling us how grown up she is and how she's ready to be allowed to do more things. Recently her most frequent request is for permission to travel out of sight of Brent or I. She has specifically requested permission to ride her bike from our cul de sac into the neighboring cul de sac. After a (lengthy) discussion I decided she she was up for it. She did just fine and even thanked me for trusting her.
Imagine my surprise when she asked me to spend some time alone at Target. And imagine both of our surprise when I said yes! I figured that 30 minutes of "just looking" was pretty reasonable for an almost 8 year old. I coached on what to say if she needed anything or if those pesky Target employees bothered her for being there without a parent. She seemed to understand the rules and could recite my name and phone number so off we went!
We agreed that I'd drop her off and then drive back home. When 30 minutes was up I'd meet her at the front door by the grocery section to pick her up. With a kiss on the head she hopped out of the van and skipped into the store. I could not believe how grown up she looked!
When Josie's time was done I drove up to the door and she was already outside waiting for me. She quickly hurried to the van and hopped in but some crazy lady followed behind Josie and was shouting at me and pounding on my window. The lady was yelling something about a child, and being alone, and it not being safe. I'm mean really lady...this kid just spent 30 minutes in Target by herself. You don't think she can handle a parking lot? I just shook my head and drove away.
So all in all Josie has made pretty big strides toward being independent. I'm proud of her.
The Target portion of this post has been brought to you by fever induced nightmares from when Heather was sick. In bed. For many, many days. No children were truly left alone in Target for the sake of this post.
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